A Christmas Miracle
by mabelreid
Summary: Danny and Lindsay are expecting their first child when a shopping trip in Bozeman on Christmas Eve leaves them stranded on the side of the road in a disabled car, in the middle of a blizzard.
1. Christmas shopping in Montana

_A/n Hey everyone. I know this is late, but the idea only occured to me on Christmas day. I hope you like it, let me know if you do or don't, all feedback is welcome._

_Disclaimer: Nothing recognizable is mine, no copyright infringement is intended._

_**Christmas Shopping in Montana**_

"Come on Montana, it's gettin' late and we still have ta drive back ta the ranch." Danny begged Lindsay who was perusing a selection of leather work gloves.

Christmas carols were playing in the big farmers' supply market they'd entered about half an hour ago when Lindsay insisted on getting new work gloves for her Uncle Peter. It was Christmas Eve and Danny just wanted it to be over.

Lindsay lovingly stroked one side of her belly where their first child grew. Danny had tried to talk her out of shopping, but she insisted on finishing up some last minute gifts she wanted to give. Danny thought it was unnecessary to get a third gift for her Uncle, but she was unstoppable.

"Alright Danny, this is the last one, I promise."

"You said that half an hour ago."

A new song began on the over head speakers. The country music take on Christmas carols was creepy. It was weird to hear Merle Haggard singing Jingle Bells. In fact, to him it was a crime against the holiday, but he kept his mouth shut, he wanted to live to meet his child.

"Yes baby… I did, but then I remembered that Uncle Peter's gloves are pretty shredded." She would notice something like that.

"I don't want you on your feet. Remember what you promised the doctor?" He reminded her, sounding like a mother with an especially unruly child.

"You don't have to patronize me. Junior and I are just fine." She glared up at him and plucked a pair of gloves out of the enormous unstable pile in front of her.

Danny watched her move, and pulled the red knitted scarf her mother had given him away from his neck. He was getting a little hot under the collar from her glare, literally. She was so sexy when angry and pregnancy had enhanced that.

"Danny… are you coming, or are you going to stand there gaping?"

_Oh yeah… coming was a distinct possibility if he didn't get a hold of himself fast. _

Scratch that, getting a hold on himself was the last thing to think about, that was Lindsay's job! He watched her walk away and it wasn't helping his inappropriate arousal at all.

_You're a bad, bad man, and a hopeless horn dog!_

Okay so maybe he was, but for some reason, Lindsay's "condition" had thrown his hormones into overdrive, something he hadn't dealt with since high school. It was pretty embarrassing now that they were in Montana and bunking with her parents.

He looked out one of the windows as he followed Lindsay and tried to think of something less stimulating like some of the strange cases they'd handled lately.

He noticed that it was snowing, as it had been for the last two hours and it was really sticking to the roads. Wonderful… now they had to drive home in a blizzard!

"Thanks Hank…" He heard her call to the very large, very fat man behind the counter. He wore a red and green sweater, and a jaunty Santa's cap with a pair of brown pants. He had a white beard and moustache. Lindsay told him as they left, that the kids all called him Santa Claus. Hank waved enthusiastically at Lindsay as they left the store.

"I can see why." Danny said sarcastically.

"Why are you in such a foul mood all of a sudden?" She asked getting into the passenger side of the SUV she borrowed from her mother.

"If you haven't noticed, it's really snowing. We should have left a couple of hours ago." He got into the drivers side after loading the rest of their packages in the back.

He turned the engine on and fiddled with the heater. It was getting colder by the second and he was shivering. Lindsay looked utterly serene in the passenger seat.

"This is nothing. You should have been here for Christmas in nineteen ninety-eight. Now that was a bad storm."

He put the truck into gear and pulled slowly away from the curb. It was ten miles back to the ranch and he was going to be sweating the whole way. New Yorkers didn't drive in this weather. He'd seen the whole city shut done for half an inch of snow and there was at least an inch on the roads already.

"Yes baby, I know about the famous storm of '98, it's all your dad and brothers talked about last night."

"You don't have to patronize me." She turned on the radio and found more country music renditions of the classics. He shuddered, and then reminded himself that he promised he would give Montana at Christmas a chance for her and the baby's sake.

"I'm sorry Linds, but ya gotta admit they kinda laid it on pretty thick." Her father and brothers had made it sound like the storm of the millennium.

"It was a bad storm. We got three feet of snow in a forty-eight hour period. There were people stuck in their cars on the side of the road…"

He quit listening to her and engaged the four wheel drive. The snow was coming down faster, the flakes were tiny and the wind was pushing them around in every direction in front of the truck. He had decent visibility and as long as it didn't get worse, he thought they'd make it back to her parents place in safety.

"Oh…" Lindsay hissed and he glanced over at her rubbing at her belly again.

"You ok Montana," Her face was scrunched up in pain.

"Yeah… just a little kick from your child reminding me that he or she is awake," She hissed through her teeth.

"Are you sure that's all?"

"I'm fine," She insisted and smiled at him for effect.

"Okay…" He looked at the trip meter on the dash. "We're halfway home."

He looked out the windshield and saw that the flakes were large and falling faster than he'd ever seen. He was losing visibility fast and had to slow down quite a bit. The snow was beginning to stick to the road and the wind was pushing small drifts onto the road that looked like miniature hills.

"It's getting bad." He said.

"Naw this is nothing, were going to be okay." Lindsay assured him with a smile.

He shifted down to low gear and dropped his speed even more. His headlights weren't helping in the late afternoon light, so he switched them off. The world was completely white and grey around them, with the black pavement it was like an old black and white film. He shivered just looking at the scene in front of him. He risked a glance at Lindsay and she looked utterly un-fazed by the storm. She looked over at him and smiled that beautiful smile that made him think anything was possible.

"Come on Danny. I told you this was nothing. We're halfway home already and this truck can handle anything." She said, then her face went pale and she groaned grasping her stomach in pain. Her breathing went ragged and fast.

"Montana…" His hand left the wheel and grabbed for hers and he foolishly took his eyes off the road to see how she was.

"Danny… Look out!" She screamed. There was a sickening slide and a loud thump as the truck hit a large drift of snow and the ice underneath it defeated the four wheel drive. He yanked his hand away from her, his heart slamming into overdrive. He tried to grab the wheel and steady the truck but it was too late. The truck fishtailed in snow that was coming down so fast it was like being hit with a waterfall.

Lindsay screamed again and there was another sickening swoop in Danny's stomach as the truck left the road and slid down the embankment coming to rest against a barbed wire fence enclosing a large field. Probably a wheat field he thought crazily as his shoulder harness snapped him back into his seat. Lindsay moaned and the truck stuttered, coughed and stalled out in the blinding white snow.

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Danny drew on his gloves and got out of the car. The wind howled so loudly he couldn't hear anything around him. The snow was falling so fast he was blind in the unrelenting whiteness. He walked around the truck letting a gloved hand trail around the outside of the vehicle. His face was already burning with cold and his glasses were covered with the white stuff. There was no way they were going anywhere, even if he could dig them out, they wouldn't be able to see to drive. He was shivering hard under his city coat. How could it possibly be this cold? He once thought New York was cold, but this was different, this cold was a living and breathing thing that could rip your lungs out, and throw them back to you, useless.

It was getting dark and Lindsay was his priority. There had to be a way to get out of this mess. The truck was a four wheel drive after all. It was useless he could see as he formed a fist and hit the side of the truck with the edge of his hand. He'd already tried to get them out and the truck wouldn't budge, they were stuck. How could a four wheel drive be stuck? They were supposed to be the best in snow right?

He turned and let his hand on the truck guide him back to the drivers side. He got in the truck and Lindsay was sobbing in a way he'd never seen. 

"Where the hell did you go? Are you stupid Messer? That's a blizzard out there; you could get lost two feet from the truck and never get back." She screamed again and clutched at her abdomen. He couldn't believe that both of them were unharmed from the crash.

He leaned over and pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry Montana, but I had to try." He looked down into her brown eyes and saw the overwhelming fear in them, and his heart smote him for scaring her like that.

"Danny… what are we going to do. I think I'm in labor." She sniffed and burrowed into his arms.

"I don't know!" He admitted, pulling away from her and turning back to the useless vehicle. He hit the steering wheel with his hand.

"Danny please don't freak out on me. I need you cowboy." She sniffed again.

"Some cowboy I am," He leaned back over to take her in his arms again. One finger of his gloved hand pushed the tears away that were rolling down her red face.

"Lindsay… we gotta get prepared. We're not going anywhere and you're gonna have this baby. We have to look around and find anything we can use in this truck."

"There's blankets and water in the back. My father makes sure my mom is ready for anything. I think there are a flashlight in the glove compartment and a shovel in the back."

"Do you think you can move to the back? The seats fold down, yes?" He asked, pulling his scarf back up around his face, leaving only his glasses and blues eyes peering out at her.

"Yeah… I can." She said very softly and he could see the way her hands were trembling.

"Okay… I'm going to start the truck and give us a little heat for awhile. At least the tank is almost full." He tried not to look at the trip meter but it pulled his eyes down like a magnet.

They were only three miles from home and stuck in a blizzard. He stuck his hands in his pockets so Lindsay wouldn't see how they shook after he turned on the truck's engine and adjusted the heat. He looked at the dash, and the wheel, and noticed the truck didn't have that emergency service button you could push these days. Just great! What about your cell phone Messer, he thought. He pulled it out of his pocket, and looked at it. No service, how could there be no service, it was the 21st century for God's sake!

Well it looked like they were on their own. His hands were beginning to sweat inside his gloves at the thought, and he wiped a hand across his forehead where more sweat was forming. He couldn't let Lindsay see how all of this was scaring him. He took a deep breath and spoke to his wife.

"I'm going to climb into the back and fold down the seats. We'll have you nice and comfy in a New York minute." He risked a look at her and she began to cry.

"Hey… what's the matter?" He asked and realized as soon as the words left his mouth how stupid that must sound.

_Way to go Messer. Do you ever think before you speak anymore?_

She was sobbing again and he leaned over again to hug and kiss her. Her lips were so soft and warm. God… he might have to deliver his child. This was going to give Flack a huge laugh.

_Okay… don't think about Flack and his inappropriate sense of humor, just do what you have to do._

"I'm going to get these seats folded down and make up a bed for ya. Just sit tight Montana and try not to worry." His voice was cheerful and warm, but it quavered just a bit and she shivered again. He climbed into the back of truck and got to work.

Another pain hit and she gritted her teeth around it trying to be silent. The contractions were coming closer. How long would it be? Could Danny actually deliver their baby? What if there was something wrong?

_Please God, help us! Please help out child! Please! _

"Lindsay," She opened her eyes and his face was right up next to hers. She let out a yelp. "Danny… Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"I've been calling to you for two minutes. What happened? Are you okay, did you have another contraction?" He'd removed his glasses and his blue eyes were pinned to hers, and they were as full of sadness and fear as she'd ever seen before that minute. She put a hand on his face, which was still cold from his latest trip outside.

"I'm sorry I scared you. I was saying a little prayer." She admitted. He smiled wanly and stroked her cheek with one hand.

"I don't blame ya. I've been praying since we crashed." He told her. Her hand on his face gave him strength and he grinned at her. "Come on, yer bed's ready." He helped her clamor over the seats.

"There ya are," She sat down and then lay on the seat which he'd spread with one blanket. He spread another on top of her and lay down next to her.

"Danny… Are we going to be okay?" She asked him, her face turned away from him. She didn't want to look at him if he was unsure. She didn't want to see it in his face if he was afraid.

"Yeah… were going to be okay. The storm will be over soon, and you'll get to have Junior in a nice warm hospital and your family will be there and everything." He lied smoothly to her, wrapping an arm around her and stroking her belly.

"I know you're lying through your teeth, but I appreciate it." She entwined her fingers with his and squeezed his hand.

They talked for a long time about the baby and the names they had discussed. They tried not to be freaked out by how close her contractions were getting. He got up after awhile to turn off the engine of the truck. They had to save gas.

When he returned to the back of the truck and joined her on the makeshift bed she was crying hard once again. "Hey… it's going to be okay."

"My water broke Danny! What are we going to do?"


	2. The Miracle

_A/n hey everyone, thanks so much for all the reviews, and those of you who added this to your favorites and alerts. Also I have to say thanks to a wonderful beta REIDFANATIC, who puts up with my muse who I'm sure has ADD. _

_Disclaimer: No... I don't own them people. _

_**The Miracle**_

Danny crouched over in the back of the SUV, dumbstruck. She'd just said her water had broken! Ok… so he'd thought that somehow a miracle would occur that would save him from delivering his baby. He'd prayed that someone would come along, and knock on their door and announce that they had a snowplow, and doctor, and really good drugs, for both of them. Somehow, he didn't think that was going to happen now.

"Danny… did you hear me?" Lindsay bellowed as another contraction hit.

He hadn't been keeping track of them, but he thought they were just minutes apart which were really bad in his book. Sweat trickled down his face and stung one eye with its salty acidity. He blinked hard and Lindsay was still there yelling at him to get his butt in gear.

"Ya don't have ta yell Montana." He said as calmly and pleasantly as he could. All the screaming was like a gunshot blast in the confines of the car.

"Yes I do, you're ignoring me!" She insisted.

"I'm not ignoring you. How can I ignore you? We're in this little SUV." Suddenly the truck seemed very small, and a cowardly, but strong urge to run far away overcame him in an instant. He shook his head like a dog shaking water out of his coat to clear that insane thought from his over-taxed brain.

"Danny… Please don't argue with me! I need you!" she begged, her face was pale and she was sweating and crying again.

He squared his shoulders and waded in. He was going to do it. He was going to deliver this baby if it killed him.

"I'm not gonna let ya down, or the baby Montana."

_Let's do this thing!_

He helped her get out of her wet jeans and her shoes. The blanket beneath her was wet, so he changed it out for a dry one. He was very glad that Lindsay's mother believed in being prepared as there were lots of blankets in the back he could use. Lindsay screamed again after he'd gotten her situated on the seat. He had to remember from his academy training what to do next.

He decided the first thing was to restart the engine and make sure the interior was nice and toasty warm for the new baby. Oh God… this was crazy. He was Danny Messer one time player and lab geek. What was he doing delivering a child. He'd just turned the ignition and clambered back over the seat when a hard knock on the sliding door scared the hell out of bother of them. He jumped, knocking his head on the roof of the truck.

"Ouch… Damn it!" He yelped, rubbing the top of his head.

"Danny… what was that," Lindsay's fear filled voice came from behind him as he turned to look back at the door?

The door slid open and Danny wished for his gun, or a baseball bat, or something more lethal than the blanket he held. A man with a dark goatee and mustache shot through with white, and a dark brown Stetson hat stood there smiling in the dark in the swirling snow.

"Looks like you folks could use some help." He said pleasantly.

"Who are you?" Danny demanded.

The stranger only smiled again and climbed into the truck, shutting the door behind him. Danny moved to Lindsay and took her hand possessively. She screamed, and Danny winced when her hand squeezed his hard enough to break it.

"I asked you who you are." He demanded again in his best NYPD voice.

"I'm a friend, I assure you." The man held up his hands, which were sheathed in black leather gloves. He removed his hat and revealed a lot of dark hair with grey and white streaks.

"This little lady needs help, and I can help."

_This was crazy! _

Yes… it was crazy, but in spite of his strange appearance, Danny suddenly felt like he could trust this man. There was no reason for it, only a warm feeling that came over him and made him believe in this person.

The man shook off a coat that looked like bear skin. "You need to trust me. I can help." He told them in a very mild tone.

Danny looked at Lindsay who moaned again. She was nodding her head and he could see that she felt the same kind of insane trust he felt for this complete stranger. Was this a dream and if it was when would he wake up. He really wanted to wake up, like now!

The man nodded as though he could read their unspoken communication. His blue eyes twinkled in the light of the flashlight Danny had in his hand.

"I don't know who you are, but if you can help us, then…" Danny shrugged his shoulders and the man opened a bag Danny hadn't noticed when he'd first seen him enter the vehicle. The man removed a battery powered lantern and switched it on. The interior of the car was filled with a golden glow much brighter and more stable than the flashlight. Danny turned off the flashlight and moved to the man's side.

"Get up there with her. She's going to need your encouragement and support." Danny did as he was told and crawled up on the folded down seats with Lindsay.

He took her hand again and she smiled up at him. The man handed him a soft cloth and Danny used it to wipe her forehead. His heart was thumping hard in his chest again. This was just so weird. He'd prayed for help and help had actually come. How was it possible? Was this man an angel? Did he believe in angels?

"Excuse me sir, but do you have a car. We need to get her to the hospital." Danny asked trying to sound authoritative and failing miserably. He should have asked that question ten minutes ago before just letting this guy deliver his child.

The man laughed a big hearty laugh from way down in his belly. "No sir, I don't have a car. I'm afraid we can't move her." He looked up from checking Lindsay. "This baby is coming right now!"

Danny looked over at Lindsay and she was trying really hard to smile, but fear was darkening her eyes. He remembered when she went undercover in the Hollies case. That same fear, only magnified a thousand times, was in her eyes.

"I believe in you." He said simply, not knowing where the words came from. Her eyes brightened and she squeezed his hand again.

"I love you Danny…" She said and then she yelped in pain again. He looked at the mysterious stranger, but the man was busy.

This whole situation was so surreal. He was actually letting a stranger deliver his baby!

"Lindsay," the man commanded in a kind voice. "Push with the next contraction!"

She gulped and said "Yes sir," breathlessly. It didn't matter who the guy was, he managed to get the same respect Mac did in record time.

Danny remembered the tiger cage and his idiotic baiting of her. He'd already decided a long time ago that the moment he met her he must have reverted to a fourteen year old boy. He was so happy she didn't still hate him for pulling that stunt. The pressure of her hand on his woke him up from this memory and she screamed. Her face went cherry red from exertion as she pushed.

"You can do it Montana. You can do anything you put your mind to baby."

"Shut up Messer… it's your fault I'm in this condition!" She growled at him.

The man in front of them laughed again and Danny wanted to punch him in spite of his Mac like scariness. "Don't worry Danny, they all say things they don't mean at this point in child birth."

"Oh I mean it!" Lindsay gasped glaring at her husband, who flinched.

It took several more pushes, and more screaming and promises of violence from his wife, but then there was silence and then a loud cry from tiny lungs.

"You have a girl," The man said. He busied himself with the baby while Lindsay started to cry and Danny was wiping away his own tears. Moments later the man handed him the baby wrapped in a pink blanket.

"Here you go Dad," He sat back on the heels of his cowboy boots and watched the couple with their child.

Danny looked down at his daughter with awestruck eyes. She didn't have the usual wizened look of an old man. Her skin was red, but smooth, and her head had lots of brown curly hair, the precise shade of his wife's hair. He held her tight and she stopped crying.

"Here you go Mama," He handed the baby to Lindsay and they gazed at her with wonder.

She was theirs to keep and to care for. Danny didn't know if he could live with the responsibility, but he was going to try. Lindsay was going to be a great mom, and he'd try to follow her example. One thing he did know was that his baby was beautiful, and there was no way she was dating till she was thirty.

"Thank you," Lindsay was looking up at the stranger, who was looking at them with joy in his eyes.

"You're welcome Lindsay. Now we need to get you and your baby home to the ranch." He said seriously.

Danny began to laugh. "How do you expect to do that? You can't see your hand in front of your face. Its pitch black out there," Danny pointed out the window.

"You said you trust me." The man reminded Danny.

"Well yeah, up till you insanely suggest we leave this car." Danny responded holding Lindsay closer as she had eyes only for their baby.

"Trust me now. The gas in this truck won't last forever. The baby has to be kept warm and you don't know when other help will arrive."

"He's right Danny. We have to go." Lindsay said, cuddling the baby close with a look that went straight to Danny's heart like an arrow from a bow.

"But Linds, it's safer to stay here." He protested.

"No it's not Danny. We trusted him once, we can trust him again, and I know it." The conviction in her eyes convinced him, and that feeling he'd had before when the stranger first arrived swept over him again. A voice in his heart that never led him wrong when he bothered to listen to it spoke up and told him that everything would be okay.

"Well, it appears I'm outvoted," Danny said to the stranger.

The man produced more bear skins from God only knew where and wrapped Lindsay and the baby up. Danny took one of the skins and threw it over his shoulders, before opening the door to the storm. It was raging just as it had been when the truck crashed. It wailed around him, but he didn't seem to feel the cold. Maybe the bear skins were warmer than he thought.

The man slipped on his coat and Stetson hat. Danny watched him secure Lindsay and then help her out of the car and into Danny's arms. The baby was completely covered and seemed to be sleeping through it all. He grinned down at his wife and she smiled back at him.

The man led them to a large wooden sleigh. There were nine enormous black horses leading it and they seemed to be oblivious to the storm. The man attached the lantern to the sleigh and helped them get in. There were more blankets to wrap around them and then the man climbed up on the high seat in front of them and snapped the reigns.

"Get up Rudolph," He called loudly and the lead horse whinnied and leapt forward. The others followed and the sleigh began to move faster than Danny thought was possible in the blinding snow. Then he realized that the snow seemed to be moving around them and the sleigh. It wasn't landing on them, or hitting the sleigh and the wind was warm. What the hell was going on?

"Get going there Donner! Come on Blitzen, we need to get a baby home and get back to work!" The man called out.

Lindsay looked at Danny and her eyes were saying the same thing he was thinking. The man in front of them was either crazy or he was…

Suddenly they were there. He could see the lights of the house and see the stairs leading up to the porch. The snow was still falling like a curtain of white when the sleigh slid to a stop. The man turned to them with a large grin and twinkling blue eyes.

"Home sweet home, the storm will be over in…" He consulted his watch. "Three hours and forty two minutes. You can get her to a doctor after that."

Danny was helping Lindsay out of the sleigh. He picked her and the baby up in his arms again and stepped away from the sleigh, trying not to laugh at the man's exact time frame for the duration of the storm. How could this guy know when the storm would end? It just wasn't possible!

"What's your name?" Danny suddenly asked for the third time that night. The man grinned again and said, "I thought I told you Danny. My name is Nick." He flicked the reigns and with a hearty belly laugh that sounded like Ho, Ho, Ho; the sleigh disappeared in an instant. The snow closed back around them and Danny could feel its bite again on his cheek. He went up the stairs and kicked the door hard with one booted foot.

There were excited voices on the other side of the door and it opened spilling yellow light out on them like the color of hope and love. Danny could feel the warmth from the house on his face.

"Danny… is that you?" Doug Monroe asked. Lindsay's father stepped back and let them in. One of her older brothers took in their appearance, and ran into the kitchen calling for their mother.

"Yeah Pop… it's us. We need to get Lindsay and the baby in front of the fire." He went directly to the living room fire with Lindsay and her astonished father.

"Danny what the hell happened, we've been worried sick about you? Did you say baby? What's going on?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you Pop." Danny said laying his wife and baby on the floor in front of the fire.

_TBC _

_A/n hey guys I know you all thought Danny would deliver the baby. I hope you'll forgive me, but the mysterious stranger, Good Samaritan, or Country Santa just demanded to be a part of this. One more chapter to go. _


	3. Naming baby Messer

_A/n hey guys... here is the last chapter. Thank you all for your support of the story. Many thanks to my beta REIDFANATIC for all of her help and support of my writing. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable. No copyright infringement is intended with this posting._

_**A name for baby Messer **_

"Danny… what the hell happened? We've been worried sick about you! Did you say baby? What's going on?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you Pop." Danny said, laying his wife and baby on the couch next to the fire.

He was pulling the bearskin blankets away from Lindsay and his daughter, who was still asleep, when Sarah Monroe charged into the room.

"Danny… Lindsay… Thank God. I've been yelling at Sheriff Clark for the last hour. Where have you been? How did you get here?" Lindsay is that a… a baby?" Sarah looked like she might faint. Her questions had been asked in a rush without stopping to breathe.

"Ma… why don't you sit down," Danny stood and led Sarah to the couch where Lindsay and the baby lay. She sat down next to her daughter's feet. She was quite pale, and she had the same look on her face that Lindsay got when confronted by a particularly difficult problem in the lab. Danny wanted to laugh, but instead he sat her down and did his best to explain.

Lindsay's brothers Larry and Ken were watching him closely as though waiting for him to lie about something, but then they'd been looking at him like that since before he married Lindsay. He supposed that was their job as older brothers. A third brother Michael came barreling down the stairs. He was younger than Lindsay and looked like a male version of her.

"What's going on? Lindsay… you're home! Mom was worried." He declared, but there was relief in his eyes too. He jumped into the big armchair in one corner of the room, and crossed his arms looking like he was about to hear the best story of his life.

"Yes Danny… let's hear how you got here in this blizzard. We heard sleigh bells and then we opened the door, and you're standing there with Lindsay in your arms covered with bearskin robes. What is going on?" Doug demanded.

"Daddy… Please don't get mad. It's a very strange story." Lindsay said.

Danny smiled gratefully at his wife and started again to tell his story. He told them everything about the trip to Bozeman, and back and how the car had crashed, and they had thought they were trapped in the snow. He explained how Lindsay had gone into labor.

"I'll bet you freaked out at that point." Ken interrupted the narrative.

Danny opened his mouth to deny it, but then decided that since the rest of the day had been so weird, he might as well tell the truth and shame the devil.

"Yeah… I was a little freaked out." He admitted and the boys laughed.

He finished the story, not leaving out any details including the fact that Nick seemed to know who they were without ever having been introduced.

"Are you trying to tell us that Santa Claus delivered my granddaughter?" Doug asked him, frowning at his son-in-law.

"I don't know what happened, Daddy." Lindsay said, shifting uncomfortably. "Can we talk later, it's getting too hot."

There was a wail from the baby and this spurred Lindsay's mother into action. "That's enough. We can debate on the existence of Santa Claus later." She looked disapprovingly at her daughter. "If this person was so magical, how come he didn't take you to a hospital?"

"Mom I don't need a hospital. We're doing just fine. I'm just too warm and I'm really tired." Lindsay said.

Her face was flushed, but Danny could see her eyelids closing. He looked at his watch. Two hours had passed and it was after midnight. He wanted her to see a doctor, but the storm was still really bad. He glanced out the window and saw the flakes swirling around the cold glass, and he could hear the faint whistle of the wind through the eaves troughs. He wondered if the car was buried in snow by now.

"Come on honey. I'll take you to your room and get you settled." Sarah hoisted her daughter up from the couch. The baby was crying, her little face getting red.

"Mom… what are we going to do. I don't have anything ready. I don't have clothes or diapers or-"

"Don't worry baby. Your mother is always prepared. Don't you know that by now?" Sarah took her arm and helped her into the downstairs guest room. Danny tried to follow, but Doug called him back.

"Leave the girls alone. Sarah's on a mission."

"Understood," Danny said, sitting back down on the couch. Lindsay and her mother were a lot alike when it came to getting things done.

He and the boys talked about the events of the night, and they decided that it couldn't have been Santa Claus, but Doug was convinced that something strange had happened. He wanted to find the guy and thank him.

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"Look what I found." Sarah returned with the baby in her arms. "She has a new diaper and this pair of pajamas belonged to you when you were her age. The outfit the baby wore was covered with little black and white kittens on a white background.

"Thanks Mom, it's really cute. I can't believe I was ever that small." She was putting on her pajamas. The bed had been turned down by her mother, and when she was situated on her pillows, her mother handed her the baby. 

"She needs to be fed." Sarah said.

Lindsay blushed, "I don't have a bottle or formula to give her."

"Have you thought about nursing her?" Sarah asked, watching her daughter cuddle the crying baby.

"I want to, but with my job I didn't want to start and then stop." Lindsay said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You can still do it, at least for now. You can always pump after you go back to work. Here… let me show you. I still remember from when your brother was a baby." Sarah helped Lindsay get the baby to latch on and nurse.

There was a soft knock at the door. "Come in." Lindsay called out.

"Montana… you okay," Danny opened the door and stuck his head in the room.

"Yeah… come in."

"I'm going to go get the guys to bed." Sarah said with a last smile at her girls. "I'm so proud of you." She whispered to Lindsay and kissed her cheek. "Good night little one," She kissed the baby's forehead and patted Danny on the shoulder as she was leaving the room.

Danny shut the door and joined his wife on the bed. "Honey… the storm's winding down. We can go to the hospital pretty soon."

Lindsay sighed loudly. "I know we should, but I'm so tired. Please don't make me move again tonight. The baby is fine. I just want both of us to get to sleep."

"Okay Montana… I know I should argue with you, but somehow I think you're right." He put an arm around her and watched her feed their baby. He'd never seen a sight more beautiful than his two girls. It was a miracle and he didn't know, or care how it happened just that it had.

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Sarah really was prepared for anything. The baby had Lindsay's old cradle to sleep in. They spent the night there, and in the morning after opening the gifts around the tree, Doug talked Lindsay into going to the hospital. The storm was over, her father said it had ended almost to the minute when Nick said it would. The roads were clear and they made it safely to the hospital, where they spent the day, and the night before the doctor sent them back home to the ranch.

Lindsay was okay with spending the day in the hospital because the whole family stayed with them and her mother snuck in turkey leftovers. Danny spent most of the day looking very mysterious and anxious. When the sun went down, she kicked the family out of the room and confronted her husband.

"Ok… what are you looking so mysterious about? You left for awhile this afternoon without telling me and now you're back."

He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and showed it to her. "The nurse downstairs knew we were coming. How could she have known? We didn't tell her or call ahead. She gave me this and told me that a man matching the description of Nick was in the hospital last night. He said we would come in with a newborn and he gave her this."

He let her read it. It was a birth certificate with the time date and vital statistics of their baby. All it needed was a doctor's signature and a name.

"Danny… do you think he really was Santa Claus?" Lindsay asked, stroking the top of their daughter's head with one finger and smiling at her.

"I don't know Montana, but this is going to be something she can tell her kids about someday." He took the baby from his wife and held her close.

"Danny… we never decided. What are we going to name the baby?

"I've got the perfect name…"

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Epilogue

In New York City

January 4th 2008

"Danny… do you really expect us to buy that Santa Claus delivered your baby, and saved you from a killer storm in the middle of the Montana wilderness. What do you think this is… a Lifetime movie of the week?" Flack demanded of his friend.

Danny only winked at Lindsay before turning around and confronting his friend with a stony glare. "Are ya callin' me a liar Flack?"

Hawkes and Adam were laughing at the look on the detective's face. Sheldon whispered to Adam something about five to one on Flack. Adam shook his head and then flinched when Flack smacked him upside the head.

"Now boys… let's not fight in front of the baby." Lindsay said, hanging over the arm of the chair where her daughter was firmly ensconced in the arms of her godmother, Stella Bonasera.

"Yeah Don… let's teach the kid to settle things in a non-violent manner."

Flack sent his girlfriend a withering look. "I'm a hands-on kinda guy Bonasera."

"I know that, but not in front of the baby." Stella shot back without missing a beat. Flack had the good sense to blush stoplight red.

"Ok… first you want to fight in front of the kid and now you're flirting." Lindsay shook her head at the nerve of her friends. Mac actually laughed and then he said "So… are you going to tell us her name or do we call her baby Messer for the rest of her life.

Danny shrugged in the direction of his wife. He could hold off the curiosity of his friends but not his boss, not if he wanted to live to see his daughter graduate from college.

"Her name is Holly Nicole Messer." He said, taking the baby from her infatuated godmother.

"And to think I was expecting something traditional and Italian." Flack piped up. He got hit on the head by Stella, while they all laughed.

It was snowing outside and Danny took Holly over to the window. The glass was cold, but the room was warm with the laughter, and love of his friends, and his family.

"Hey cowboy, what are you thinking?" Lindsay had wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I was just thinkin' that I wish we could thank Santa Claus." Danny said.

"Oh… I think we'll find away. I think if you can stay off his naughty list that will be thanks enough." Lindsay giggled.

Danny flushed as red as Flack had a minute ago. "I think you'll pay for that later, little girl."

"Right… you've got Holly in your arms. Just what do you think you're going to do?" Lindsay wondered.

"Send her to stay with her godmother for the night. Then I can punish a certain little crime scene investigator with brown curls and eyes." He promised with heat in his eyes.

"I'm not sending my baby away, but maybe we can work something out."

"I hope so," His breath on her face made her shiver.

"Hey you two... stop whatever you're doing, and join the party." Flack ordered them.

Danny and Lindsay grinned at each other. It was the start of a wonderful new life and in the distance Danny thought he heard the bells of the sleigh they'd ridden in that night. Maybe it was okay to believe in something bigger than yourself. Whether that was God, or angels, or even Santa Claus, for Holly's sake he was going to try.

**The End**


End file.
